An Act,
Proposing an amendment to Section 127 of the
Constitution of Alabama of 2022, relating to certain state
officers; to require the office of Lieutenant Governor to be
filled by election rather than remain vacant in certain
circumstances; to authorize the Legislature to set the salary
of the Lieutenant Governor and officers of the Legislature;
and to require any expenditure of legislative funds for travel
to be approved by a legislative officer.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF ALABAMA:

Section 1. The following amendment to the Constitution
of Alabama of 2022, is proposed:
PROPOSED AMENDMENT

PART I.
Section 127 of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, is
amended to read as follows:
(a) If a vacancy occurs in the office of the
governor, the lieutenant governor shall become governor.
(b) If a vacancy occurs in the office of the
governor and the office of the lieutenant governor more than 60 days prior to the
next general election at which any state officers are to be
elected, a governor and lieutenant governor shall be elected
at such election for the unexpired term. During such vacancy and until their successors shall be
elected and qualified, the office of governor shall be held
and administered by either the president pro tempore of
the senate, speaker of the house of representatives,
attorney-general, state auditor, secretary of state, or state
treasurer in the order herein named.
(c) In case of the impeachment of the governor, his or
her absence from the state for more than twenty days, or incapacity to
serve, the power and authority of the office until the
governor is acquitted, returns to the state, or is no longer
incapacitated, shall devolve in the order described in subsection (b) upon the lieutenant
governor, president pro tempore of the senate, speaker of
the house of representatives, attorney-general, state auditor,
secretary of state, and state treasurer. If any of these
officers are under any of the disabilities herein
specified, the office of the governor shall be administered in
the order named by such of these officers as may be are free
from such disability.
(d) If the governor is absent from the state
over twenty days, the secretary of state shall notify the
lieutenant governor, who shall enter upon the duties of
governor; if both the governor and lieutenant governor are absent from the state over twenty days, the secretary of state shall notify the president pro tempore of the
senate, who shall enter upon the duties of governor, and so
on, in case of such absence, he or she shall notify each of
the other officers named in the order of succession
herein provided, who shall discharge the duties of the office
until the governor or other officer entitled to administer the
office in succession to the governor returns.
(e) If the governor-elect fail or refuse from any cause
to qualify, the lieutenant governor-elect shall qualify and
exercise the duties of governor until the governor-elect
qualifies. If both the governor-elect
and the lieutenant governor-elect for any
reason fail to qualify, the president pro tempore of the
senate, the speaker of the house of representatives, the
attorney-general, state auditor, secretary of state, and state
treasurer, shall, in like manner, in the order named,
administer the office until the governor-elect or lieutenant
governor-elect qualifies.
(f) If a vacancy occurs in the office of the lieutenant
governor more than 60 days before the next general election at
which any state officers are to be elected, a lieutenant
governor shall be elected at such general election for the
unexpired term."

PART II.
The following provision is added to the Constitution of
Alabama of 2022 to read as follows:
Notwithstanding any other provision of the
constitution:
(1) The Lieutenant Governor and officers of both houses
of the Legislature shall be paid an amount set by joint
resolution; and
(2) Any expenditure of funds appropriated for use by
members of the Legislature for travel shall be approved by an
officer of the Legislature elected from the full membership of
the respective chamber.
Upon ratification of this constitutional amendment, the
Code Commissioner shall number and place this amendment as
appropriate in the constitution, which may include inserting a
provision into an existing section, omitting this
instructional paragraph and may make the following
nonsubstantive revisions: change capitalization, hierarchy,
spelling, and punctuation for purposes of style and
uniformity; correct manifest grammatical, clerical, and
typographical errors; revise internal or external citations
and cross-references; harmonize language; and translate
effective dates.
END OF PROPOSED AMENDMENT

Section 2. An election upon the proposed amendment
shall be held in accordance with Sections 284 and 285 of the
Constitution of Alabama of 2022, and the election laws of this
state. The appropriate election official shall assign a ballot
number for the proposed constitutional amendment on the
election ballot and shall set forth the following description
of the substance or subject matter of the proposed
constitutional amendment:
"Proposing an amendment to the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, to provide for the election of a Lieutenant Governor
if the Office of Lieutenant Governor becomes vacant during the
first two years of a term, to authorize the Legislature to set
the salary of the Lieutenant Governor and officers of the
Legislature, and to require any expenditure of legislative
funds for travel to be approved by a legislative officer.
Proposed by Act ____."
This description shall be followed by the following
language:
"Yes( ) No( )."

Section 3. The proposed amendment shall become valid as
a part of the Constitution of Alabama of 2022, when approved
by a majority of the qualified electors voting thereon.